After several days of gross weather (and a “winter storm” that brought a little dusting of snow to Atlanta), I’m happy to see the sun for once! We didn’t venture out much, thanks to said weather, but I did keep busy with several photo sessions (yay for new babies!), and we have officially started demo on our master bathroom. The plumber and tile company will start work a week from today, and we CANNOT WAIT to transform our bathroom! Don’t worry – a post will follow. 🙂

What an eventful week! We started off with Leighton’s 4 month pediatrician appointment, which included shots, but she was a pretty good sport, other than a few screams. She’s finally strong enough to sit up on her Bumbo chair, and she loved her first time in it! She played with a toy for probably 30 minutes while in the Bumbo, which made mom and dad very happy! It was truly a week of firsts for her, as she also officially rolled over from back to stomach (and does it all the time now) and she also had her first taste of rice cereal to close out the week! I assumed she’d spit it all out, but she actually ate some and even tried to take the spoon to feed herself. I can’t wait to get past this boring cereal and onto the pureed foods… hopefully she’ll love those!

We had a couple fun meals out with my family while my dad was in town on a break from work this week. The guys ended up with some free time on Friday, so we took the opportunity to try out chef Ford Fry’s newest hot spot, BeetleCat in Inman Park. They only serve lunch one day a week (Friday), and they only serve their fried clams (whole belly and strips) at lunch. I have a lifelong obsession with clam strips (just ask my family), so naturally, that’s what I ordered. They were light, airy, and perfectly fried — I just wish there had been more of them on the roll! The waitress said that their coconut cream pie was the chef’s grandmother’s recipe, and it did not disappoint. We all agreed it was probably the best coconut pie we’d ever had.

I got a girls’ afternoon out on Saturday to celebrate one of my bff’s birthdays with brunch at Kaleidoscope. It was a gorgeous day filled with delicious food, mimosas, cake, a little shopping, and good friends. We had a cookout later that night with some friends, which was a great way to wind down the weekend. If only Miss LL had been a good sleeper later that night… but we’re in the midst of her learning to put herself back to sleep after rolling over in the middle of the night, which has not been fun. Hopefully she’ll get the hang of it soon (to then move on to the next sleep-depriving phase, I’m sure).

We had her four month checkup this morning, and she’s healthy as a horse (or little pony?). She of course hated her shots, but she was a trooper, and I promised her a cookie.

Milestones: Just before 14 weeks, we noticed that she was continually breaking out of her swaddle at night, and she was waking up every time. We decided to start transitioning her out of the swaddle, and Night 1 was horrible! We left one arm out of her normal blanket swaddle, and she was up every few hours, still breaking out. On Night 2, we changed to the Halo Sleepsack, which had been recommended by a few friends. What a Godsend — she slept from 8:30pm – 3:30am and then after eating, she went back to sleep until 8am!! The next night was even better, with her sleeping the first stretch till 4:45. Hallelujah for the Halo Sleepsack! (I will say that the next week, she didn’t sleep quite as well, but we also started a round of out-of-town trips lasting 3 weekends in a row, so I’m sure the stress of traveling didn’t help anything.) Now that the holidays are over, we’re getting back on track, and she has both arms out of the swaddle. On Friday, she slept for a solid 10 hours from 8pm to 6am (her longest stretch ever) — hallelujah!

A few weeks ago, she really took to sucking on her fingers… usually 3-4 of them at a time! Ha! It’s so loud and funny, but we’re glad she’s found something to soothe herself since she’s not a big pacifier fan. Just recently, she has started to get the hang of sucking her actual thumb, too, and it’s kind of adorable.

And for the final milestone of the month, she has rolled over! I came into her room to get her up on Saturday morning, and she was crying a lot more than usual. What do I see when I look in her crib, but a baby who is on her stomach and NOT happy about it! I’m sure this will make for some sleepless nights as she gets the hang of this skill, but it’s exciting to see her learning new things.

Likes: She loves her fingers! Also, anyone holding her is subject to their fingers going in her mouth and being slobbered all over. Pretty much everything she can get her hands on is going in her mouth right now.

She’s really started to focus on things and is now able to grasp small toys and rattles, which she’ll play with and look at to entertain herself.

Leighton also loves looking in the mirror – you’re almost always guaranteed a big smile when you hold her up in front of one.

This past weekend, we picked up a Baby Einstein exersaucer to try out since she’s been doing so holding her head up. After assembling 47,000 parts, she got to take it for a spin, and she loved it!

Dislikes: She’s not the biggest fan of having clothes pulled on over her head, but if I can distract her enough, she’ll let it fly. Waiting to eat is still her #1 pet peeve, but being left in the swing or on the activity mat for even a minute too long will elicit a pretty solid cry as well (and that’s usually during our dinner).

Fun stuff & firsts: Leightonhad a big month celebrating her first Christmas season! Even though she wasn’t really aware of all the fun and festive outings, gatherings, and activities, it certainly became a much more magical time of year for us. She’s been dressed in red jammies and Christmas shirts all month, got to meet Santa, has gone to look at Christmas lights, and has been asking for a pony non-stop, which she of course received (don’t worry – just a stuffed one). 🙂 It’s amazing how much more magical holidays become when you get to share them with your child!

She marked off her 4th state on the map this month — we went down to South Alabama for my dad’s extended family’s annual Christmas get-together.

She has gotten over the phase of not wanting anyone but mommy to hold her (it lasted almost a month) – and we couldn’t be more happy! She let so many family members and new people hold her at the various Christmas week gatherings, which was a miracle. I know more of these phases will come and go over the next few years, but we’re pretty excited this one seems to have passed for now.

Her hair is falling out on the back of her head, but she has a lot of peach fuzz on top. Her eyes are bright blue, and I hope they stay that way! They’re so big and pretty, and she’s always wide-eyed, taking in everything around her. We joke that she has “pillow feet” because they’re puffy, and we can’t get enough of her little arm and leg rolls. Chubby babies are the best!!

Welcome to 2016, friends! To ring in the new year, we actually headed back out of town (for the 3rd weekend in a row) to the mountains in Helen, GA. We rented an amazing little cabin with 4 of our friends and their 3 kids, so we had a total of 6 adults and 4 kids… total insanity, but so much fun. Despite being exhausted, we managed to make it well past midnight on NYE! Leighton celebrated early with her sparkly gold top hat and a party blower, which she preferred to eat and slobber on.

We took a quick trip into downtown Helen for lunch one day. I really wanted a funnel cake, but we settled for giant pretzels and beer cheese sauce at the Troll Tavern instead. 🙂
We each took turns cooking dinner for everyone and ate like kings all weekend. We spent our nights by the fire roasting marshmallows for s’mores after the kids were asleep, playing “Fibbage” (a fun trivia game using the tv and our iphones), and telling stories and laughing for hours until we all snuck quietly back into our rooms so we wouldn’t wake the sleeping babies.
The cabin was on top of a hill with the prettiest view of the mountains, especially at sunset.
This is the best dessert ever. Leftover s’mores ingredients used to make a dip. So good and so bad at the same time. A perfect treat to end our weekend away!
I love how vacations seem to make us more tired than we were before going, but they’re still always worth it. We laughed and commiserated about non-sleeping babies with our friends, and we made another batch of memories to add to the ever-growing list. It’s certainly an adventure to travel with so many little ones in the same house for several days, but we wouldn’t have had it any other way. I’m so thankful to have incredible friends to share in this crazy, busy, exciting season of life. Here’s looking forward to another year filled with love, laughter, joy, travel, and many adventures!